


As Gentle As A Kiss

by Kyn_Moonlight (Kyn_Moonligjt)



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Any landing you can walk away from..., Cuddling & Snuggling, Episode: s04e02 Lifeline, Exhaustion, First Kiss, Flying the city, Getting Together, M/M, No actual sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-30
Updated: 2020-01-30
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:14:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,789
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22472410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kyn_Moonligjt/pseuds/Kyn_Moonlight
Summary: Posting some of my older fics that were previously on now-inactive archives.Rodney kisses John as gently as he’d landed the city. John kisses back as gently as the landing Rodney wanted.
Relationships: Rodney McKay/John Sheppard
Comments: 8
Kudos: 72





	1. As Gentle As A Kiss

**Author's Note:**

> Season/Spoilers: S4 - ‘Lifeline’ Episode tag & spoilers

\--

Less steep of an angle, he’d told him. Gently, he’d told him. Like a leaf kissing the surface of a pond.

Then they were splashing down into the new Atlantean ocean in a city-shaking, bone blasting, senses-shattering… And it was entirely possible he was giddy from relief and the lack of sleep because he was speaking in comic book cover-blurb.

“Oh, nice kissing!” he snapped.

“Maybe he likes it rough,” Ronon mumbled, with deceptive blandness.

Carter giggled. Actually giggled. Radek snickered. Rodney scowled at all of them. And they might be giddy as well.

Under normal circumstances, there were certain words that he simply didn’t let himself think in conjunction with one another. But now that wall had crumbled and all kinds of distracting thoughts were mingling together wantonly, making the last of his resolve crumble away as well. _Sheppard_. Liking it _rough_. _**Kissing**_.

Amid power consumption statistics and reports of systems operating as well as could be expected in the circumstances, he struggled to his feet. “I, ah, have to go check on the…” he waved, ineloquently. “Right, I’ll just do that.”

He made it to the chair room before Sheppard, looking decidedly sick, had even gotten out of the chair. After a standing a moment, frozen in the doorway, he closed the distance between them with a gasp, pulled John to his feet, and with both hands framing his face was kissing him about as gently as the city had landed.

After a moment of understandable shock, Sheppard was kissing him back. Tipping his head so their noses and teeth didn’t clash. Opening – surrendering his mouth to McKay.

Oh, and licking…

John brought his hands up; one tenderly cradling the back of Rodney’s head, the other with fingertips just lightly caressing neck and jaw. His elbows slowly nudged Rodney’s aside, till his hands released their squashing grip on John’s face and settled, more peacefully, on his hips. Then John was taking control of the kiss, making it slower, softer, until he was kissing Rodney with all the gentleness of the landing he’d begged for.

They had a microsecond of warning as John’s legs started to tremble, before they were collapsing under him, and Rodney’s far overstressed muscles were hardly up to the task of supporting himself, let alone both of them. They tumbled gracelessly into the chair, and after a moment of stunned disorientation, started kissing again, this time with the added feature of being pressed quite firmly together, groin to groin.

For a minute Rodney thought the roaring in his ears and the shuddering was his own reaction, till Sheppard was gritting out, “Turn it _**off**_ , McKay,” while the chair chirped and blinked beneath them.

“Right, right.” He stretched to the side and began powering down the chair interface.

“Rodney? Colonel Sheppard?” Zelenka’s tired voice asked over the radio. “Is there a problem?”

“Ah, no. No. No problem. Just shutting down the city’s engines.”

“Could you do it without _writhing_?” John whispered, with his hand covering his microphone.

Rodney shifted his attention to the other side to complete the shut down.

“Like that!” John ground out. Waiting momentarily for the interface to go quiet and dark, he pulled Rodney back up into a lingering, breathless kiss.

Interrupted again by Carter’s, “Apollo has established orbit and is preparing to initiate transfer of personnel.”

“Confirmed,” Sheppard acknowledged.

“Oh, and Dr. Keller says if Radek doesn’t get off that leg in the next ten minutes she’s going to have a med team take him to the infirmary on a stretcher and see to it personally that he does.”

“Oh, like he’ll mind that at all!” Rodney whispered. Into the radio he said, “Right, we’ll be up there in a minute.”

“When was the last time either of you slept?” she asked.

“What? I don’t know. Yesterday morning? Or was it the day before?” Rodney answered.

“Last night,” John said.

“Really?” Rodney looked at him in shock.

“For about ten minutes,” he admitted.

“Control center crew is arriving back in Atlantis now. Dr. Lee and I will brief them.” Sam told them. “Sensors are operational and Apollo reports they are standing by to offer any assistance required. Everyone else who was on duty for the last three days can go on stand-down. Including you two.”

“I can’t just…” Rodney began.

John shifted his hips beneath Rodney’s and gave him a significant look. “Sure you can, Rodney. Roger that, Colonel. Sheppard and McKay on stand-down as of now. You know where to find us if there’s any problem.”

“Like the shield consistency over the damaged sections. And the power gird in the west pier. You have to route…”

“We’ve got it under control, Rodney.” Sam informed him, gently. “Get some rest. I promise, you’ll be the first to know if we need you.”

“But…”

“Rodney,” John whispered.

“Oh! Right. Um, McKay out.” All the fight suddenly drained out of him, he collapsed against John’s chest. John’s arms wrapped around him, silently holding him close.

After a few minutes he lifted his head and looked down at John’s face, haggard but relaxed. “We’re alive!”

“Uh-huh,” John said so languidly that he had to kiss him again. When he pulled back, John was smiling up at him with half-closed eyes.

“Are you OK with this?”

John’s arms tightened around him. “You couldn’t tell?”

“You’ve just never…”

John raised an eyebrow. “Neither have you.”

“Oh. Well I wasn’t sure if you… what you’d… um, that is, and then…”

John kissed him lightly. “I think we should get to a bed while we can still move.”

“Right.”

Rodney climbed off John and the chair with a minimum of writhing, and extended a hand to help John up.

He took it and levered himself to his feet, both of them stumbling briefly.

“Are you sure you’re OK?” Rodney asked. “Because you’re not usually this exhausted from working the chair interface.”

“Rodney,” John looped an arm around him, only partly so they could support each other. “This was a little different. I just landed a _city_.”

“Right.” Rodney keyed open the door. “If you call that a landing.”

“Well, you know what they say, ‘any landing you can walk away from’.”

“We’re in the middle of an ocean. You’re not really going to be walking away from this one either.”

“Rodney? Shut up.”

They stumbled along the hall in silence for a few minutes.

“OK, don’t shut up. Talk to me Rodney. Help me stay awake enough to get us back to my room.”

“Your room?”

“Or yours.”

“Oh. Together?”

“That was the idea.”

“Oh. Good.”

“Rodney?”

“Yeah?”

“Talk.”

“Oh, right. Um… Oh! We flew the city! That has to give you permanent bragging rights. With the other flyboys. You know, when you’re comparing notes.” He lowered his voice, trying to play the role of some random, macho pilot. “F-302?”

“Through a _Sun_ ,” John said proudly.

“Don’t remind me,” Rodney said in his own voice. “Death glider?”

“Pfft, those are _designed_ for humans. Wraith Dart!”

“Daedalus-class cruiser?”

“Aurora-class Ancient warship.”

“Oh, yeah, that was cool. Um… Goa’uld mothership?”

“Hah, I flew a _**city!**_ ” John replied, triumphantly. He staggered for a step, then took a deep breath and set the next foot down more carefully.

“Oh, well then,” Rodney continued in his fake voice, “I bow down before your greatness.”

“You do?” John asked with a lopsided grin.

“Well, not literally,” Rodney said. “That would completely play havoc with my back, and after the last few days it may never be the same. Ah, well yes. If we get you lying down comfortably on a bed I might be convinced to do a little, um, bowing down.”

“Yeah?”

“Quite possibly.”

“C’mon,” John mumbled, opening his door. He let Rodney support him over to the bed, then pulled him down on top of himself.

John kissed him again for several long minutes and didn’t complain at all this time when Rodney’s writhing rubbed their bodies against each other.

“Hmm,” he said after a while. “Clothes.”

“Mm,” Rodney agreed.

“Off,” John clarified, opening his eyes part way as Rodney nodded against his shoulder. He tugged on Rodney’s shirt and pushed him a little.

“Easier if we get up,” Rodney mumbled into his shoulder, but obligingly twisted his mid-section back a bit so John could pull the material up further.

He worked the under shirt and over shirt up half way, then just leaned in to rub his face against Rodney’s bare chest. The corner of his mouth dragged against a nipple and he stopped there to kiss it. Rodney arched into his touch for a minute, with a very compelling moan, then shoved an arm under them to lever himself up into a seated position.

John’s mouth followed blindly and he almost got an elbow to the nose when Rodney pulled the shirts up and off. Instead he mouthed one broad shoulder as Rodney leaned down to pull off his boots.

“Come on.” Rodney twisted around, grabbing John’s hands to tug him upright. “You too.”

“’Kay,” John agreed, though he started to drift a bit too far forward when he leaned down to untie his boots, and Rodney had to catch him around the shoulders and chest to stabilize him.

Rodney sighed. “Fine, I’ll get your boots. You work on the shirt.”

John nodded with a sleepy smile and started to pick at the buttons while Rodney made quick work of the shoes. John had his shirt unbuttoned when Rodney sat up again but had gotten distracted running a hand up and down Rodney’s spine. Which he really hated to discourage, but fewer clothes meant even more skin to touch, so he interrupted again and helped John get the shirt and pants off.

Rodney managed to get up to his feet to take his own pants off, letting them fall haphazardly to the floor. John looked up at him, slipping his fingers under the waistband of his boxers to slide them off as well. Rodney’s cock twitched as John’s hot breath ghosted over it.

“Want,” John grinned, eyes half-lidded, and caught him around the waist to pull him in closer. John’s mouth closed over the head of Rodney’s cock in sweet wet warmth, then slowly pulled off with one hard lick. Then he just rested his face against Rodney’s belly with his eyes closed.

“John?” Rodney asked.

John just hummed softly in response.

“John.” Rodney touched his hair lightly. “You don’t have to. If you don’t want.”

John’s hands curled around the backs of Rodney’s thighs, keeping him from pulling away. “I want,” he whispered. “I’m just so tired.”

“Oh. ‘S OK. I’m tired too. It’s been a really long day. Couple of days.” Rodney stroked John’s hair again and disentangled himself from his arms. “Come on, lay down. We can pick this up another time. I mean, if you still want to.”

John let himself be guided back down onto the bed, but wrapped both arms around one of Rodney’s when he tried to leave him there.

“Huh-uh. Stay,” he pleaded.

“Oh. Okay. If you want.”

“Yep.” John nodded with a smile, blinking drowsily at him, so Rodney lay down beside him, pulling the sheet and blanket up over them both. “Mmm, better,” John sighed, wrapping himself around Rodney. “Landed a whole city. Was _hard_. Sleep?”

Rodney smiled indulgently and held him. “Sleep,” he agreed, resting his cheek against John’s hair. He stroked it a few times and pressed a small kiss there, trying not to smile too much over how cute John was all sleepy and trusting like this. Lightly, he petted his back and the arch of one bare hip, then slowly let his hand drift down to cup John’s soft cock.

“Sorry,” John whispered. “Just…”

“No, hey, I know,” Rodney assured him. “I just wanted to hold you. Nothing else right now. Is this OK?”

“Mmm,” John sighed. “Feels good.” He curled against him, his head on Rodney’s chest, one hand resting on his lower belly, just above his quiescent cock and one knee just below it.

He asked the city to turn off the lights, and it felt a little like a goodnight kiss when she did. They fell asleep like that, while the darkened city floated on the ocean of their new home like a leaf on the surface of a pond.

\--


	2. It’s a Major Award

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s a Major Award
> 
> ‘Lifeline’ Episode tag & spoilers
> 
> Morning after

Waking up with naked McKay in his arms was kinda nice, even if the reason they were still achy and bleary wasn’t so nice. After he’d landed the city and Rodney had pulled him out of the chair and kissed him, they’d staggered back to John’s room in exhaustion, and ended up falling asleep instead of continuing whatever the kissing was the start of.

Even with his exhaustion-clouded thoughts, John remembered all the reasons he hadn’t acted on what was now obvious as mutual attraction. But like last night, he was still too tired and too overwhelmed by everything that had happened to make himself care, to keep making himself say ‘no’ to something that, in his heart, had always been ‘yes.’

And, as he’d just observed, it was nice. It was nice to have your best friend right there to soothe you back to sleep after the nightmares about how badly everything could have gone wrong, or _did_. It was nice to be there to do the same for him, when he woke up thrashing and whimpering from nightmares you were always certain he was having, but had never been there to witness. It was nice to not be alone, just this once. It was even nice when Rodney poked him awake for snoring in his ear.

He tightened his arms around the warm, solid body in his bed and took a deep breath. Nice couldn’t last. And like it or not, with Elizabeth out of the picture - and he had to close his eyes tight and bite his lip against the gasping sob that thought almost wrenched from him – he and Rodney were still in charge.

He brushed a kiss across Rodney’s sweat-dampened forehead, and gave him a little shake. “Hey.”

“ _Deactivation code!_ ” Rodney said with sleepy terror, before his eyes snapped open. They widened as he looked up at John, darted around the room and took in their still naked, still entangled, still sweaty bodies. Then he blinked in surprise. “Huh.”

John pressed another light kiss against his brow, wishing so desperately that they didn’t have to get up, that he could pretend for just a moment that this was something he could have. Then even his brief delay was cut short by the door chime.

Rodney sighed in frustration at the interruption, but got up to answer the door, quickly pulling on pants.

“Radek? I thought Dr. Keller wanted you to stay off that leg?”

He smiled. “Perhaps if she used the methods you have to keep Colonel Sheppard off his feet, I wouldn’t mind so much, no?”

“I haven’t… we’re not…”

Zelenka waved dismissively. “Yes, yes. Of course not. Nothing is going on. Has been nothing going on for years now.”

“What? It’s…”

“Rodney, I am here to see Colonel Sheppard.” He limped on past Rodney, still floundering in the doorway, and up to John who was sitting on the bed, dumbfounded. “Ahem. John Sheppard, it is my honor and privilege to confer this award, for the first time in the history of Atlantis to a person outside the science department.” He handed John a … something.

When John laid it out flat on his hand to take a look, he saw that it was the ‘CTRL’ key from a keyboard, that had apparently been colored purple with a sharpie marker and stuck to a ribbon made of post-its.

“Oh!” Rodney breathed, eyes widening.

“For excellence in programming, under fire and in extremely hostile conditions.” Radek nodded in satisfaction.

“Um,” John said, looking from the bizarre construction on his palm to Zelenka. “It’s...?”

“Geek of the Week,” Rodney said softly. “They’ve given you the Geek of the Week medal! Hey, I’d done most of the work ahead of time and was talking him through the rest on the radio.”

“Now Rodney, it will be back in your hands or mine most likely, next week. Do not begrudge him his moment. Now, yes, I really do need to lie down. I will leave you two to _celebrate_.” He flashed Rodney a lewd smile, adjusted his crutch and hobbled back out of the room.

“Huh,” John said.

“Have I told you how sexy I think it is when you’re smart?” Rodney asked, scooping the award up to deposit it on the night stand and pushing John back down onto the bed.

“Nope,” John replied. “I think you better show me.”

\--


End file.
